Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If you ask my wife, I've gone through too many MP3 players looking for the best one for my needs. I've had a lot of the unknown brands and some are actually really good..just not exactly what I wanted. The one I've been using since summer goes everywhere with me...but I needed something BETTER. Got it with this. Let me preface this by saying this is not for beginners. If the extent of your music playing comes from apps on your phone, you might be lost in the beginning. If you're looking for a touch screen with big pretty buttons, this isn't it. I read another review saying the user experience is bad. I think that's absurd. If you're serious about music but on a tight budget, this has an experience you will appreciate. The UI is extremely intuitive and there are a lot of options and settings to fiddle with to get this set up exactly the way you want it. DAC - This has a great DAC for the price. It's not the most current generation, but at this price point that is to be expected. It does the job and does it well. My FLAC and MP3 sound fantastic pumped through a solid pair of IEM headphones. Blows away other DACs in the next tier down. TI makes a really great DAC! Sound - Even my lower quality MP3s I've been keeping since the days of Napster sound great. Obviously you can tell the difference in quality when one of the old files pops up on the shuffle, but it doesn't sound grainy or glitchy. My high quality 320kbps files and the few albums I've ripped from CD to FLAC are where this shines. It is absolutely phenomenal to listen to hi res audio on this device. I am really impressed at the sound for the price. Build - Another review says this device is lacking in build quality. This is an aluminum brick. The buttons are plastic but seem completely solid. The scrolling wheel is textured plastic but feels very sturdy. I had no problems navigating the menus with it. The buttons are all perfectly labeled and make navigating the interface that much easier. The screen is of a decent resolution for this type of device as well. EQ - This has a very competent 10 band equalizer with lots of presets. Unlike in low-end hi-res players, the equalizer here makes a difference. I've got it set on Rock and it sounds fantastic. I/O - I've used this device with bluetooth headphones, bluetooth earbuds, a bluetooth stereo, single bluetooth speaker, and my car bluetooth. No connectivity problems at all. I get the best sound out of my wired IEMs, though. Bluetooth is fine, but nothing compares to a decent pair of headphones. You can also connect external devices (I used a generic USB stick connected with a micro-USB OTG cable) and get music from those. I've got a 128GB MicroSD card installed and am listening to this device streaming through an Anker Soundcore about 25 feet away as I type this review. The HiBy Music app works as expected, and streaming from my phone through this is really a simple process IF YOU READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. Haha Interface - Three themes to choose from..Doesn't do much but change the color scheme. What I LOVE about the interface is that you can access important settings from the now playing screen. Turn on and off bluetooth, display lyrics, show album art (looks great), and access the EQ. The back button does what it says, and the menu button does what it says. There is literally no issue with the UI for someone who understands file structure or has ever used a computer. There are two other settings menus accessed from the home screen. You can customize nearly everything. Battery - I fully charged this after receiving. Took about 1.5 hours to fully charge. As of this moment, I've listened to music either through headphones or streaming through bluetooth for about sixteen hours. Mostly streaming to bluetooth. Battery bar shown in the photos is showing about 50%. In real world use, this device might need to be charged once a week, especially if you're mainly listening through wired headphones. Overall impressions: THIS is the MP3 player I've been looking for. It's inexpensive, built like a truck, looks good, and has more settings than I can shake a stick at. I am extremely pleased with my purchase.